Kitten Explosion!

I have had to move away from my old house, I have children of my own to protect from the unfriendly dogs and the foxes.

I do sneak back from time to time — and thought I would update you on some of the changes in the growing family of Alentejo cats .

I had heard rumours about new kittens and thought I would go and investigate.   My first couple of return visits I saw nothing but the usual crowd I knew all growing up well. Little Squeak is no longer frail and tiny.  He is growing up into a fine specimen of a cat and his sister Bubbles is blossoming too as is the aloof Nimbus.

Here is Mr B.  One of the naughtiest cat I have ever met!

Bubbles has turned into a real performing “princess.”

Nimbus — still the loner.

Look at Squeak now — no sign of him being at death’s door and fighting for his life.

Miss Infinity still rules the house from inside as this picture shows.

The next thing I noticed was the disappearance of two of the mothers.  They were nowhere to be seen. They vanished for about a month. Can you imagine my surprise on my next visit when I saw this!

Is that more kitties I see there ?  How many?

So much to find out.  So little time to investigate.

It appears that when the tall one and the red one went on holiday in the summer, Pepper and Torega decided to have a holiday of the partying kind all of their own.

They, for some reason, decided to have their litters at the old house and come back periodically for food until one day Torega re-appeared with five kittens in tow.  They are known as the “Wild Bunch” — I don’t think they look that wild in this picture though, do you ?

Pepper returned with her one kitten a couple of weeks later — a tiny, black, very shy little kitten that spent all its time hiding in the flower pots or the wood pile.

I hate to wait a lot longer to see Black Mummy’s kitten.  She has been called “Fluffy” in a vague  attempt to infuse the kittens with their name characteristics.

She is far from fluffy, but quite cute, and the most tame of the new generation.

Feeding time is a frenzy.  The red one has to split food onto at least  two plates!   She has her hands full keeping them all out of the house.  They can be very mischievous  and get into to all kinds of trouble,  like getting in behind the gas cooker and the space behind the kitchen cupboards!

I will give you another update when they have all grown a bit, meanwhile, I have to go back to my home and family and hunt for supper.

For the record: The current count is 15.

The three mothers: Black Mummy, Torega and Pepper

The spinster: Infinity

The teenagers:  Bubble, Squeak, Nimbus and Mr B

The next generation: The wild bunch (5),  Pepper’s kitty and Fluffy